In tandem with the European Cup in Olsztyn, two elite Junior fields took to the start line to contest the European Junior Cup at the venue. After the recent dabble with the Super Sprint distance at the European Junior Cup in Caorle, this time it was back to the Sprint distance for the field.
Although slightly chilly weather awaited the athletes, they managed to heat up the day with their racing.
Men’s race
Márton Kropkó, the recently-crowned World Junior Aquathlon champion, made the most of his speed in the water to grasp an early lead. Only a few seconds behind were Yegor Krupyakov and Kropkó’s compatriot Gergő Gyula Soós. With the field stretched, every second counted as Kropkó made his way through T1.
One by one a group of men followed and a front pack of nine emerged out of T1. Andreas Nikolajsen had a rapid transition to just about make it into the pack.
Patrik Leitner pushed the pace early on during the bike. Similarly Gregor Rasva and Omer Zafrir took turns upping the pace to maintain the distance to the chase group.
With Gyula Kovács also in the front group, Hungary had three Junior men in contention for the win. After winning a European Junior Cup in Riga last year, Kovács had the speed on the run to take on anyone in the breakaway.
Further behind, the pursuit began as Antoine L’hôte and Oscar Lilja tried to insert some impetus into the chase. Yet the lead pack fended off the efforts of the chasers to push their advantage to over 20 seconds. Over the second half of the lap, the lead hovered around the 20 second mark but the chase simply could not close it.
The leaders therefore arrived in T2 with a healthy lead, but not a decisive one.
Kovács, Kropkó and Leitner started well on the run as Soós and Krupyakov were dropped. From the chase Kuba Gadja attacked the run from the first step and began to hunt down the splintered front pack. Leitner and the two Hungarians stuck to their task, though, and finally dropped Nikolajsen. That left the lead trio in control of the race.
Still, Gadja had not given up and managed to pass Nikolajsen late on. However the finish line was already in sight for the leaders. As hard as Gadja tried, he simply ran out of road.
Leitner glanced across to the Hungarians to see if they would attack. Kropkó seemed ready to go but it was Kovács that timed his kick best and he surged clear. Neither Leitner nor Kropkó could react quickly enough, giving Kovács the win by 4 seconds.
Kropkó managed to get over the line next to make it a Hungarian 1-2. Leitner earned the bronze medal after crossing the line 5 seconds behind Kropkó.
Women’s race
After two European Junior Cup wins plus a World Junior Aquathlon title (that came with a silver medal in the Senior race), a recent 6th place in Caorle was a slight surprise for Margareta Vrablova.
In Olsztyn, she set about making up for it with a vengeance.
Vrablova led the way in the swim, clocking a time of 10:01 to gain a 3 second gap over Beāte Bula and Mirtel-Madlen Siimar. After a quick T1, though, Vrablova found herself alone on the bike with the open road ahead of her.
As she jumped out of the saddle to get up to to speed, the field behind began their chase. Within the first kilometre, Bula was able to latch onto Vrablova’s wheel.
Aniek Mars of the Netherlands and Noémi Van Der Kaaij of Switzerland then also rode across the gap to join the front. No one else, however, managed to bridge to the lead, leaving the four women group to take on the rest of the field. Van Der Kaaij looked particularly strong on the bike and took on several big turns as the lead quartet piled on time to their advantage.
A 30 second lead came and went. As Mars hit the front, the lead jumped over a minute. A few unfortunate back-markers were then lapped out of the race by the thundering train that was the front group. With Vrablova and Bula also chipping in, there was no hope for the chase. By the time the next pack arrived in T2, the leaders were long gone with a head start of over 90 seconds to play with.
At the front of the race, though, there was not much of a contest. Mars was initially the only athlete able to stay near Vrablova but she too soon fell behind.
Vrablova could therefore cruise the late stages of the run as she sealed a victory at a third European Junior Cup of the year by over 30 seconds.
Mars came home in 2nd place while Van Der Kaaij took the bronze medal after finishing over a minute behind the Dutch woman.
View the full results here.
